Butterflies
by Mushroom Wonderland
Summary: "Just gotta get you home—gotta get you—gotta take you home."


**Disclaimer:** I don't own_ I Am Legend_. Dedicated to Samantha; a look through her eyes as she waits and waits for Robert.

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_**.the innocent. **_

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The sun dipped below the horizon. Her fur bristled, blood as icy as the ocean she once tumbled into. Robert - she shuddered at the name, internally crying out to him - had hysterically dragged her out, chastising her careless fall, even though it was her objective to capture the duck. He'd laughed later, a warm sound that made her ears twitch and her tail wiggle pleasantly. She missed him terribly. Her heart warned her of something in the distance, like every day - in the distance, in the shadows.

_You can't go running into the dark. _

The Dark isn't Neville, whose warm and compassionate, who bathed you in affection. No, the Dark is sinister and cold and callous, and it can and _will _hurt you. It would tear through your skin like paper, like how your own teeth shredded meat. The Dark was Terror personified.

Yet she had absurdly tore into the Dark, the hot blood of the doe-eyed dear pumping adrenaline through her body. Feeble-minded, she realized her mistake too late, too late for coherent thought, and she was then burrowed beneath something of wood, concealed. _Their _breathing was shallow, a pant of slumber that betrayed their nightly ferocity. The Dark chilled her blood.

Neville rescued her. She knew he'd come. She had hear his voice, cooing into the Dark, calling out to her in the most of hushed of tones. His horrified terror was blatant. "_Sam_," he'd rasped when discovering her. She'd whimpered, something of a frightened relief, even though her heart was in an erratic frenzy, so far gone into the oblivion of cold-blooded panic.

But he rescued her.

He did. And then… he left after a scorn that was imprinted on her mind and a promise of valiance; he was cooking something up, like always. She observed as the little metal poker eased into his dark flesh, how he unblinkingly spoke to her, almost sorrowful.

_You gotta pay attention, okay? You gotta pay attention. Listen, uh… I want you to stay here on this one, okay? Because you could still get infected. And I can't… _

_So look. If I'm not back by Dark, um… _

… _Just go. _

Those were his precise words. They were not subject to objection or disobedience. Yet she shivered and paced in a circle, revolving; and then she found herself gazing at the morning star. It was orange and flaming, and the skies were pink and yellow and purple. The shadows would arrive. The Dark would come to her and tear her apart and capture her soul.

But she refused to leave him, to disobey his command. Although she would have to obey if the Dark came. Memories encompassed her mind, clouding her vision as she perched stiffly back upon the car's seat, paws crossed. She bowed her head and let the flood of Remembrance consumed her. It was better than fearing and hoping and wallowing in dread.

_The little girl - Marley, her name was, so sweet and sugary - hugged Sam to her chest like the dolls she so preciously played with. Sam blinked curiously at the man - Robert, he never actually warmed her the same as Marley. His voice was commanding, it sometimes frightened her, especially when he was scorning her to the point of yelling. _

"_No!" That seemed to be his only word. _

_She was taut in Marley's arms, her body cold and frozen. Her stomach was quenching painfully, and she desired to flee, flee to safety, anywhere, somewhere! Men and women and children were crammed so closely, the stench of human odors and terror flooding the atmosphere. She crinkled her nose and snorted. Marley giggled and Sam licked her, tasting the sweet tenderness. _

_Spinning blades revolved above her head, the noise loud and throbbing in her ears, yet she lingered in Marley's arms. The man, Robert, tugged fiercely at his coat, gazing solemnly at his mate and their child, Marley - Sam loved the name so much. She would forever, years and years later, even when Robert would be her true companion. Comrade. Friend. _

"_Sam, you protect Daddy!" _

_Sam bristled, fur ruffled as she was exchanged between hands. Protect… Daddy? Protect in the way a mother guarded her pups? Protect. Marley wanted her - Sam, yes, that was her name: Samantha - to protect Robert? It was not a plea. It was a command. _

_She didn't comprehend at that moment, but she would protect him for the rest of her life. That too short life. So little years. _

"_No, baby, I-I can't - Daddy can't take a dog." _

_She curiously gazed upward, seeing Robert, how he shakily pressed her to him, the former statement useless. It was not a warm touch, but desperate. His thoughts were elsewhere as Marley and her mother, Zoe, entered into the hovering little metal contraption. The blades swirled chaotically, a blur above. Sam's fur prickled. _

_The thing lifted off the ground. Neville was silent, and Sam listened to the beat of his heart, how it was soothing, although disturbed; Marley's had been cool and smooth. Sam smiled - as best she could - as Marley pressed against the sheet of glass, staring at her father, crying jovially, "Daddy, look! A butterfly!" Salty tears were in her eyes, eyes the color of dark chocolate. _

_Those words. They were everlasting, an echo of memory that lingered in her head to the day she, Sam, died. Sam loved butterflies, they were fun to chase. She never wanted to kill them like the other dogs did. She just liked being on their trail; she wished she had wings, so she could fly up into the blue skies, the halo of light that was called the sun. The sun was beautiful, and to her, only butterflies could touch it - not birds or airplanes or spaceships, like she saw on the television. _

_No, only butterflies could reach the sun. Only the innocent could. _

"_I know - a butterfly." Robert nodded and cried serenely, as did his mate and his little girl, Marley. The last words to his daughter. The last exchange of family love and affection. Sam didn't know it, how the fire and smoke swallowed Marley and her mom. She didn't know, didn't understand that Marley was now like a butterfly, free to touch something even beyond the sun, something far greater than anyone could understand. _

_Sam never saw her again. But she missed her everyday. Every second of every minute of every hour of every day, Sam mourned to herself, Sam kept her promise. Sam grieved till the sun was consumed by the Dark. _

_Sam had a sense that Robert did, too. _

And now, as she waited and waited and waited, she felt like that promise wasn't being kept; that Robert was dying or the Dark was eating his soul. Sam wasn't doing what Marley instructed, Sam was failing. Her stomach dropped and her throat constricted. She felt like she did when she ate those green stale foods the first time - "vegetables" is what Robert named them. He said, "_Eat your vegetables. Don't just push 'em around, eat 'em. I ain't playin'!_"

That was the only command she never obeyed. She would later, however - when Robert returned, of course. She would mash them up and chew through them and digest them. Because Robert was her friend, her comrade, and she knew he would never make her do something without it benefiting her. Even leaving her - it will probably be better for her.

_Just go. _

She couldn't. That would be the second command she would ever disobey. But he would return, so perhaps it wouldn't. Yes, he'd return. He wouldn't leave her in solitude, isolated in a land of nothing. No, he wouldn't do such a thing. Never.

Because he loved her, and they only had each other.

-

He emerged, the sun illuminating him; a black bag on his shoulder. She sprinted toward him, her legs pumping, blood hot and spinning through her head. She called to him, and he brushed past her, a smile on his face as he observed her. She smiled, too, and called again as he shoved the bag into the car and turned on his heel; his arms were open as she buried her face into the cotton of his shirt, drowning in the scent of him.

A plume of fluttering creatures, jarred by the patter of her feet, burst from a knot of grass and weeds. Butterflies! She smiled and called to Robert, reminding him of Marley, how she made butterflies with her hands; Robert grinned at her as she danced in the butterflies. She wanted to be one, to have her wings to flutter and flap. She wanted the sun.

"_Look and see!_" she cried to Robert, swirling and twirling. "_Butterflies!_"

He didn't understand. He only smiled.

That was enough for her.

-

_S-Sam? _

Yes? She didn't let the Dark consume you, Robert. She promised Marley. So why are you crying, why are there red cobwebs in those eyes? You're okay, Robert. You're okay. Robert… Sam protected you, yes she did; she didn't let those Dark creatures get to your soul. She didn't let that one creature touch you; she pounced just as it nearly tore through your skin. Why are you crying like Marley did?

… And why was she so tired?

_It's okay. _

_You're alright. It's okay! _

_You're alright. You're alright. _

The butterflies are everywhere, Robert! She was inside their circle. She was so happy. Why was he still crying, couldn't he see, couldn't he understand? The butterflies were making her innocent, they weren't letting the Dark take her soul away.

_Samantha? _

Robert?

_Samantha, look at me, girl! _

She blinked through the halo of butterflies. Two pools of solemn black were peering at her, where crying to her. She loved the butterflies. But she needed to protect Robert. She made a promise and she was going to hold it in her heart forevermore.

So she tried breaking through the butterflies.

_Hey! You're okay. You're okay. _

Why was she so tired, Robert? Why won't you grab her and pry her from the butterflies? But she did love them, so… Where was Robert? Why was Marley suddenly there? She was grinning at Sam and making butterflies with her fingers, like before.

_Samantha! _

Marley? Or was it Robert?

Or was it the butterflies.

_Just gotta get you home - gotta get you, gotta take you home. _

What are you talking about, Robert? Sam _was _home, yes she was. She was in her world, in her own heart, in her own mind - she was in yours, too, Robert. You just can't see it.

Not yet.

Not yet.

You'd reach the sun, too, Robert, like she - Samantha - did. It's so beautiful, Robert, being with Marley and Zoe. It's so… warm. You'd come to us eventually. You'd bathe in the warmth with us, like we once did when I was little, when I was a pup. Yes, you'd be a butterfly, too.

But not yet.

… Not yet.


End file.
